Verizon Communications Chief Executive Officer Ivan Seidenberg stood at the podium yesterday, composed, almost stoic, as he faced a red-shirted, mostly hostile union crowd shouting "boo," hurling cat calls and calling him names for about an hour and a half.

If most annual shareholder meetings in good times are back-slapping lovefests and, in not-so-good times, staid, orderly and perfunctory affairs, Verizon's annual gathering at the Westin Convention Center Hotel yesterday broke the mold.

	Listen In PG business reporter Corilyn Shropshire covers the Verizon employee rally in Downtown Pittsburgh yesterday and the company's annual shareholders meeting at the Westin Convention Center Hotel. Joyce Ruediger, a 25-year Verizon employee talks about her current situation A crowd of 1,200 chants outside of the Westin Convention Center Hotel before the annual shareholders meeting Related article Labor unions turn to more high-profile events to get their message across

Such is the life these days for the top brass at some of the country's largest name-brand firms, who like Mr. Seidenberg, are being held up as the poster children for corporate greed and excessive executive pay.

The $21.3 million that regulatory filings show Mr. Seidenberg earned in 2006 has made him a whipping boy for corporate greed among union organizers and corporate pay watchdogs. Citing a study by research firm the Corporate Library, Verizon's union officials said that Mr. Seidenberg earned $75.1 million over the past five years while shareholder returns over the same period were a negative 26.8 percent.

Mr. Seidenberg isn't alone in the spotlight. Executive compensation has been scrutinized and garnered headlines for decades, with the more recent practices of outsourcing, questionable accounting practices and layoffs adding to the frustrations of workers across the country.

Unions and executive pay critics liken corporate chiefs to 21st century Marie Antoinettes -- pampered with private jets, country club memberships and generous pay packages that don't often match shareholders' returns and have little relationship to the lives of the average worker.

New federal rules detailing more about pay and perks have only added to the ammunition for critics. "We built this company, we should share in the profits of this company," local Communications Worker of America 13500 President Sandy Kmetyk said as the crowd cheered and rose to its feet.

All but one of the seven shareholder proposals -- most of them backed by Verizon's unions, which represent some 80,000 workers -- were defeated, with Mr. Seidenberg reporting that a nonbinding vote to give shareholders a say on executive compensation packages was "too close to call." The results of the proposal, offered by an association of Verizon retirees, will be available in a few weeks, the company said.

Other proposals, including eliminating executive stock options, requiring shareholder approval of future severance agreements and disclosing the pay of independent consultants, went down to defeat.

While many companies use annual meetings to showcase the firm's successes and to give shareholders a glimpse of its plans, Verizon didn't make its own presentation. After the discussion of shareholder proposals, Mr. Seidenberg simply held a 20-minute question-and-answer session, during which he defended his pay and noted Verizon's most recent quarterly profits beat Wall Street's expectations, despite falling more than 8 percent.

He also agreed that Verizon's long-term strategy to invest hundreds of millions to compete with cable companies by upgrading its network so it can deliver paid-TV, broadband Internet, wireless and land-line phone services "may have hurt some short-term shareholders." But long-term investors, he said, "have done pretty well.''